These easy vegan gingerbread cookies are buttery and full of warming winter spices that will make your entire house smell like Christmas. Decorate them with vegan royal icing to bring them to life!

Perfect for the holiday season, Christmas, and Thanksgiving. They also make a wonderful addition to homemade cookie boxes for gifts!

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🧾 Ingredients

Here's everything you need to make this easy vegan gingerbread cookie recipe from scratch:

ingredients to make vegan gingerbread men measured out on a vintage tray.Pin

Ingredient Notes

  • Vegan butter: It’s important to use room-temperature vegan block butter here and not margarine, as the water content in margarine, is too high. 
  • Spices: You'll need gingerbread spices including ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and allspice or ground cloves.
  • Soft Brown Sugar: Gives a slight "caramel" flavor, perfect for festive cookies like these gingerbread biscuits. 
  • Unsulphured Molasses: I use Grandma's brand. This gives them a soft and chewy consistency on the inside. You can also use black treacle, which has a slightly milder flavor but do not use blackstrap molasses.
  • Orange zest. The secret ingredient to making this vegan gingerbread cookie recipe irresistibly good (and literally impossible to stop at eating just one), is the addition of orange zest. It adds a lovely freshness to cookies which compliments the warming spices of ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
  • Aquababa: This is the liquid part from canned or jarred chickpeas (chickpea brine), it works similarly to egg whites and sets the royal icing when dry.
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🔪 Instructions

Here are step-by-step images showing how to make these soft gingerbread cookies. Please refer to the detailed printable recipe card at the end of this page for full measurements and written instructions:

vegan butter and brown sugar creamed in a large bowl with an electric mixer.Pin

Step 1:  Add the softened butter and brown sugar to a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer until combined. You can also use a stand mixer.

molasses, orange zest, and vanilla added to creamed butter and brown sugar in a mixing bowl.Pin

Step 2: Add the molasses, vanilla extract, and orange zest and whisk again to combine. 

gingerbread spices mixed into cookie dough.Pin

Step 3: Whisk in the gingerbread spices, baking soda, and sea salt.

gingerbread cookie dough in a bowl.Pin

Step 4: Continuing with the electric mixer, whisk the flour into the wet ingredients until you have a dough consistency. If the dough is too dry, whisk in a tablespoon of non-dairy milk. 

gingerbread cookie dough in a disk with plastic wrap before chilling.Pin

Step 5: Flatten the vegan gingerbread dough into a disc, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill for at least an hour (a couple of hours if you have the time).

gingerbread cookie dough rolled out with gingerbread men cut outs.Pin

Step 6: On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to approximately a quarter inch in height, and use cookie cutters to cut out any shapes you desire. 

gingerbread cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet before baking.Pin

Step 7: Place the cookies at least 2 inches apart on baking trays lined with parchment paper. Optionally, freeze the tray with the cookies for half an hour before baking to help prevent them from spreading too much. Reroll and repeat with the remaining dough, or chill leftover dough until ready to bake.

gingerbread cookie with royal icing on a sheet of newspaper.Pin

Step 8: Let the cookies come to room temperature on a cooling rack, then decorate with vegan royal icing or melted chocolate.

🍽 Serving

These vegan ginger cookies make a great festive topping for other desserts such as:

💬 FAQs

How to store vegan gingerbread men?

These cookies will be slightly firm/crunchy when freshly baked and will soften after the first day. You can keep them in an airtight container for around 2 weeks.

How long should I bake gingerbread cookies?

Depending on the consistency you're after and the size of your cookie cutters, the baking times will vary. Here are the general times for 3.5-inch cookie cutters:

For soft and chewy cookies, bake for 10 minutes.
For firm cookies, bake for 12 minutes.
For crunchy cookies, bake for 14 minutes.

Please also bear in mind that after the first day, your cookies will naturally become a little softer as they are exposed to air.

What if my dough is too dry or crumbly?

This recipe is designed to work without an egg replacer. The fat and moisture naturally present in dairy-free butter, molasses, and vanilla extract are enough to bind them together. It's also important to use room-temperature butter for optimum binding.

However, if you find that your dough is a little on the dry side, simply whisk in 1-2 tablespoons of soy milk or oat milk to bring it together. 

Do I need to chill gingerbread before baking?

Yes, chill the dough for at least an hour before baking (more time if you have it). Chilled dough is much easier to roll out, and it gives the ingredients a chance to absorb each other.

hand holding up a gingerbread cookie with a mischievous expression.Pin
hand holding up a gingerbread cookie with a sad expression.Pin

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📖 Recipe

Vegan Gingerbread Cookies

4.89 from 34 votes
PREP TIME: 20 minutes
COOK TIME: 10 minutes
Chilling Time: 1 hour
TOTAL TIME: 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 26 cookies (6.5 x 5.3cm)
PRINT RECIPE PIN RECIPE

Description

These soft and chewy vegan gingerbread cookies come together in one bowl and are decorated with easy eggless royal icing. Intensely spiced with warming ginger and cinnamon, and a hint of fresh orange zest giving them a unique flavor.

Ingredients

Gingerbread Cookies

  • 150 g (5.3 oz) vegan block butter, room temperature *see note 1
  • 150 g (¾ cup) soft brown sugar
  • 100 g ( cup) molasses
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon orange zest
  • 340 g (2 ¾ cups + 2 teaspoons) all-purpose flour, or all purpose GF for gluten-free option
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons ground ginger
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon ground allspice, or ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

Royal Icing (optional)

  • 1 batch vegan royal icing , or half batch if only outlining them
  • 40 g vegan chocolate, melted, optional

Instructions

  • Cream butter and sugar: Add the room-temperature butter and brown sugar to a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer until combined. You can also use a stand mixer.
  • Add wet ingredients: Add the molasses, vanilla extract, and orange zest and whisk again to combine. 
  • Add dry ingredients: Whisk in the gingerbread spices, baking soda, and sea salt.
  • Continuing with the electric mixer, whisk the flour into the wet ingredients until you have a dough consistency. If the dough is too dry, whisk in 1-2 tablespoons of non-dairy milk.
  • Chill: Flatten the vegan gingerbread dough into a disc, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill for at least an hour (a couple of hours if you have the time).
  • Preheat your oven to fan-forced 160°C/320°F or conventional 180°C/356°F.
  • Roll out the cookies: Lightly flour your countertop and roll out the dough to approximately ¼ inch in height.
    Cut out cookies using a 6.5 x 5.3cm cookie cutter and place them on baking trays lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat, at least 2 inches apart.
  • Bake: Bake for 10 minutes (soft) or up to 14 minutes (crunchy). Allow the cookies to sit on the baking tray to cool for about 5 minutes. Next, carefully slide the sheet of parchment paper with the cookies off of the tray and onto a cooling rack. Cool for another 15-20 minutes until they reach room temperature.
  • Transfer the icing to a piping bag. Snip the very tip of the bag with scissors and start by piping an outline on your cookies. You can get creative with drawing faces and designs on the cookies.
    If you wish to coat the cookies completely in royal icing you can flood the cookies by continuing to pipe inside the outlines. You can also melt some vegan chocolate and pipe more faces/designs if desired.
  • Place the iced cookies back on a cooling rack to allow the icing to dry completely for a minimum of 1-2 hours before storing them in an airtight container at room temperature.
  • Storage: These cookies will be slightly firm/crunchy once freshly baked and will soften after the first day. They will last in a sealed container for around 2 weeks.

Notes

  1. Vegan butter: Take this out of the fridge to sit at room temperature for 30 mins to 1 hour. Use vegan block butter NOT spreadable butter from a tub. I use flora plant butter or Violife Block.
  2. Baking Times: For soft and chewy gingerbread cookies, bake for 10 minutes. For firm gingerbread cookies, bake for 12 minutes. For crunchy gingerbread cookies, bake for 14 minutes.
  3. For the green icing pictured, simply mix in half a teaspoon of matcha powder for every 3 tablespoons of royal icing.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 149kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 105mg | Potassium: 89mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 223IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1mg
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*This recipe was originally published in November 2020. The recipe has since been improved and updated to simplify the instructions.